Kapanen scores late to lift Oilers to 4-3 win over Ducks in playoff opener

The Oilers returned to the playoffs Monday night with a victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers showed the Anaheim Ducks that they aren’t the only team that can pull off dramatic comebacks on Monday.

Jason Dickinson and Kasperi Kapanen each had two goals as the Oilers took a 1-0 lead in their opening-round series against the Ducks with a 4-3 come-from-behind win at home.

The Oilers led 2-0 after 20 minutes, but the Ducks answered with three second-period goals.

Anaheim recorded 26 comeback wins this season — tied for the league lead with Montreal — and won 17 games when trailing by a goal and nine when down by two. But Edmonton scored twice in the third, including Kapanen’s winner with 1:54 left, to take Game 1.

Dickinson, who returned from missing the last three games with an injury, became the fourth player in Oilers history to score two goals in his playoff debut for the franchise.

“The mood was calm, that’s one of the benefits of a veteran team that’s been through it,” said Dickinson, a deadline acquisition from Chicago, on the Oilers falling behind in the contest. “Nobody is overreacting, nobody is getting frustrated. The message was simple: go out and attack. If it takes the entire period, then it takes the entire period, but we’re not going to let up.”

The Oilers (41-30-11 in regular season play) saw star forward Leon Draisaitl return after missing the final 14 regular season games and pick up a pair of assists, as did Jake Walman and Vasily Podkolzin.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid was held pointless. Edmonton went 0-12-2 in the regular season when he failed to record a point and had at least one in all 41 wins, making a Game 1 victory without him notable.

The Oilers are seeking a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final after losing the past two to the Florida Panthers, who missed the playoffs this season.

Troy Terry had two goals and an assist, and Leo Carlsson also scored for the Ducks (43-33-6), who are in the postseason for the first time since 2018.

“We knew it was going to be hard, but we’re a great team also. We knew it was going to be a tight series, for sure,” said Carlsson, who added an assist.

“One turnover can dictate the entire game, so we’ve just got to be less sloppy and play more playoff hockey.

Connor Ingram made 24 stops, including a doozy in the dying seconds, to capture the win in the Edmonton net, while Lukas Dostal recorded 30 saves for Anaheim.

The Oilers started the scoring with 2:39 remaining in the first period as Walman made a long stretch pass to Dickinson, who undressed Dostal with a great move.

Edmonton scored again exactly a minute later as Kapanen took a feed from Draisaitl and then had two cracks at his own rebound to score his first of the playoffs.

The Oilers outshot the Ducks 14-4 in the first period.

Anaheim only needed 19 seconds into the middle frame to make it 2-1 as Terry scored on a huge rebound from a Leo Carlsson shot.

The Ducks tied the game 4:38 into the second period as Carlsson returned the favour by banging in a Terry rebound.

The Ducks took the lead on the power play with 5:31 left in the second as Terry, playing his first career playoff game, sent a shot through traffic in for his second of the contest.

Edmonton knotted the game back up as Radko Gudas blew a tire as a huge rebound on a Mattias Ekholm shot came to Dickinson for his second goal of the game.

The Oilers went up 4-3 with 1:54 left in the third as Podkolzin made a great backhand pass from behind the net to set up Kapanen’s second of the game.

UP NEXT:

Game 2 takes place on Wednesday in Edmonton.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2026.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press